And then he falls.
The man is gone. The human is gone. Dead.
Kraven turns and looks at me, and my blood runs colder than the winter breeze. His eyes are black as night, and his hair is almost white against the sky.
I can’t believe what he just did. What will happen to him? Will his cuff be removed? Will he be tossed into hell himself? But then I remember something Kraven said. They’re soulless.
Does that make a difference? Does Big Guy only care about those he can still save?
I decide yes.
Kraven rushes toward me, and even though instinct tells me to flee, I hold my ground. When he gets within a few feet of me, I don’t step back. Instead, I lift my chin to meet his gaze straight on. Kraven closes the distance between us and grabs my biceps. He drags me behind him as he heads toward the house, his wings still splayed open.
“Let go of me,” I bark. “I’m not a child.”
But he doesn’t. He just keeps pulling me until we’re inside the house, until we’ve woven through hallways and rooms and we’re back in the training area. At that point, I jerk back. I don’t care whether my arm pulls out at the socket, I won’t be manhandled. If it’s a fight he wants, I’m game. Even if I can hardly stand.
I rip my biceps from his grasp. He whirls around, and his wings sink behind his shoulders. A cracking, snapping sound tells me he’s brought them back into himself. I open my mouth to fire out questions, but he cuts me off by grabbing my shoulders.
“What are you holding on to?” His voice crashes over me. “Say it.”
I try to pull away but he won’t let go. “Get away from me.”
“Let it go!” he roars. “Let it go, or you won’t save her.”
“Get off me.” It’s all I can say. All I can think. “Get off me. Get the hell off me.”
“Tell me what it is! Say it!” Kraven rears back, and before I comprehend what he’s doing, his fist connects with my jaw. The world spins, and I’m falling. I hit the training mat and roll onto my side.
“Son of a bitch.” I groan and clutch my face in my hands. I’m not sure whether Kraven is planning on hitting me again, and I’m not about to lie around waiting to find out. I get to my feet. My vision blurs before focusing. “You want to wrestle, Miami? That’s fine. But you better be ready to breathe your last, because I won’t stop until your broken cuff is in my hands.”
A guttural sound rips from my throat as I lunge at him. He sidesteps me and circles an arm around my chest.
“Stop fighting me, Dante.” He squeezes until my ears ring. “Let it go.”
I try to throw my head back, but he cocks his own to the side. I end up head-butting his shoulder, which does absolutely nothing. My heel slams down, but he pulls his foot back. I was expecting he’d know this was coming. But I know he won’t expect this.
I leap up and curl my knees toward my chest. Kraven is pulled off balance and crashes to the floor. He falls on top of me, and my face smashes into the ground. Doesn’t matter. He’s let go of me, and that’s all I care about. I scramble away from him, then kick his face, hard. His nose crunches beneath my boot.
Once I’m upright, I jerk into a fighting stance. “Come on, Cyborg!”
A faint burning smell hits my senses, and my mind puts the pieces together. Burning smell equals wings. I’m not sure when I figured that out, but I almost wish I didn’t know what was coming next.
I hobble toward the exit, my right leg dragging behind me. When I look over my shoulder, I see Kraven flying—flying!—across the room. His white wings spread out like a cloud. If I were looking at his wings alone, I might think he seemed peaceful. Innocent. But one glance at his rigid face, lips wet with blood, tells me I need to brace myself for impact.
Kraven slams into me, and we roll across the training mat in a heap. He lands on top of me and forces my shoulders back. My head hits the padding with a dull thump. It’s the first time I realize how thin the blue mats are.
The liberator thrusts his face close to mine, so close I can see the pink of his gums as his lips peel back. “Let your demons go.”
My heart hammers against my rib cage. All I can think about is getting him off me. Over and over I think about escape, because if I don’t think about escape, then I’ll think about what Kraven is saying, and I can’t do that.
Kraven’s chest inflates, and his words boom like a semi-sonic blast. “I said, LET IT GO!”
I snap. A thousand suppressed memories roll over me. I drown in them. “I can’t!”
I’m not sure I’ve said anything at all until Kraven growls again. “Why not?”
“I can’t let go of my demons because I am a demon. Because I’ve always been a demon. I’m bad. There isn’t something inside that I can let go of, because it’s all I am.”
Kraven jerks my shoulders up and slams me back down. “Tell me why, demon! How do you know?”
“Because they didn’t care. Because my parents didn’t give a damn. They said they loved me but where were they? Where?! They didn’t want to be around me. That’s how I know I’m bad, motherfucker, because even my parents didn’t want to touch my ass.”
There it is.
My darkness.
It’s something I’ve carried around inside me since I was a child. Something I didn’t dare talk about. My temples are wet with something. Tears, maybe. I don’t know. All I do know is that I have to get out of here, or I’ll suffocate. I throw my leg up and bring it right into Kraven’s jewels. He falls off me and lands on his side, groaning
I get up and head toward the door. This time Kraven doesn’t stop me. I feel the weight of what I just said sitting on my shoulders like a gorilla. All the memories I keep of my parents are the good ones. The time my dad finally took me on a trip with him. The time my mom made me meat loaf because I told her I liked it. But what about the others?
What about when my dad forgot my birthday year after year? What about when my mom forgot to pick me up from school when she promised she would? And I mistakenly believed her…again. I never stopped wanting them to pay attention, to notice me. And I hate myself for that. I hate it. I didn’t want to love them. I didn’t want to care what they thought.
But I did.
I believe they loved me. From a distance. When they had time. I try to tell myself that my dad cares now. He came to see me when I got cuffed as a liberator. And he left the ivory pendants for me and Charlie. That’s something, right?
Whatever. It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. I guess in the end, I returned their affection accordingly. After all, I made my father a corpse and my mother a widow.
You’re welcome, Mom.
You’re welcome, Dad.
Do you see what a good son I am?
I throw my fist into the wall beside me. The pain feels good, reminds me that I have pain all over—in my muscles, my bones, my eyes. But still the memories sit on my shoulders. They press me down until I can hardly walk. Press, press, press.
But I suddenly realize something, and when I do, I stop cold.
The weight isn’t inside of me anymore.
31 
You Speak of War
As I make my way back to my room, the pain becomes unbearable. Instead of focusing on it, I think about why Kraven took me outside. The answer comes easily: to show me how much I need my wings. And that staying here until I can summon them is worth the wait.
I take another step, and my ankle rolls. Another one, and my knee buckles.
I’m falling.